Life, Love and the Meaning of
by michellemtsu
Summary: A Cristina/Owen story from the perspective of the rest of SGH.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note:** Okay, this is my first _Grey's_ story, but not my first fic. This is primarily an Owen and Cristina story. Basically I'm showing their relationship those the eyes of everyone around them. Does that make sense? This chapter is from Derek's POV. The next will be Bailey, and so on. I'm planning on going through all twelve regular cast members. The lengths of the chapters will vary according to the POV. I've never done a fic like this so, it's really an experiment. Let me know what you think!

**Disclaimer:** All _Grey's_ characters belong to Shonda Rhimes and ABC. But I'll gladly take Owen off her hands for a while!

**Chapter One – Derek**

Derek shrugged into his lab coat. He'd just finished his fourth procedure – a craniotomy – since his return to work. So far no one had died. Derek knew all too well that the real test would come when a patient _did _die. _You can't save everyone, Shepherd,_ he reminded himself for what felt like the thousandth time. _What happened to Jen…_No, he refused to let his mind go there. He'd promised Meredith. No more beating himself up. Derek needed a change of scenery. Now.

He left his office and took the elevator down to the pit. The scene was surprisingly tranquil. No crash victims, no boys in cement, no drunken brawlers. The only patients he could see were a man in his fifties with a broken leg and a fifteen year old boy with a nasty gash on his forehead. Derek scanned the ER but saw no sign of Meredith. Derek frowned, disappointed. Then he saw Cristina with the whimpering teen, writing in his chart, while she watched one of her interns stitch the boy up.

Derek chuckled to himself. As much as Meredith's close relationship with Cristina annoyed him, he had to admit she was a fine doctor. And a good, loyal friend. Meredith was lucky to have Cristina on her side. The prickly Cristina definitely kept him on his toes.

Derek was about to go when he saw Owen Hunt come through the ambulance bay doors still in his civies. Hunt was obviously coming in to start his shift. Derek was startled when Hunt made a beeline for Cristina instead of the locker room to change. Hunt made a show of looking at Cristina's half-finished chart while he oh-so-carefully slipped _something_ into her lab coat pocket. Cristina grinned – Derek was pretty sure he'd never seen her to _that_ before – as she squeezed Hunt's hand as he walked away.

_What was that all about?_ Derek wondered. Were they together? Hunt and _Cristina_? Well, that explained why Mark struck out so badly with the resident a few weeks ago. Derek's first impulse was to find Meredith, but then he realized that was silly. If Hunt and Cristina really were dating then Meredith already knew. That's just how those two were. Derek sighed. Well he'd just have to get to the bottom of this himself. Besides if Cristina really _was_ in a relationship with Hunt than that could only be a good thing, right? For the sake of his precious sleep, Derek hoped so.

He found Hunt at the first floor nurses' station. The former Army surgeon had shed his street clothes in favor of attending's scrubs and his lab coat. The younger man was scribbling in a chart when Derek approached.

"Afternoon, Dr. Hunt."

"Dr. Shepherd," Hunt replied as he slid the chart back in its holder. "First day back?"

Derek sobered immediately. "Third, actually."

"How're things so far?" Hunt asked gently.

Derek was taken aback at the man's concern. It was no secret they hadn't gotten off to the greatest of starts. Since those initial explosive encounters they'd become civil if not overly friendly. Perhaps Derek had underestimated the trauma surgeon.

"As well as can be expected, I suppose. I haven't killed anyone yet, so that's good." Derek smiled half heartedly at his feeble joke.

Hunt didn't appear fooled however. "Dr. Shepherd, if you ever need someone to talk to, come find me. I'll listen." He paused. "You really shouldn't keep things like that bottled up. Believe me, I know." Derek didn't miss the shadow that crossed Hunt's face as he spoke.

Derek smiled gratefully. "I'll do that, Dr. Hunt. Thanks. But if you're going to be the Cristina to my Meredith then you should probably call me Derek."

Hunt's brow furrowed in confusion. Then his eyes lit up with recognition. "Oh right. I'll remember that…Derek."

Hunt turned and started up the hall. Derek mentally kicked himself. He completely missed asking Hunt about Cristina! Before he could rectify the situation, Hunt had disappeared. _Damn._

"Hey, earth to Derek!" Fingers were snapped across his vision, Meredith's fingers. "Derek, you in there?" Meredith asked in a worried voice.

"Yeah, I'm here."

"What's up? Everything okay?"

"I'm fine." Derek gently grabbed Meredith's elbow and guided her to the nearest elevator. "Listen, I need to ask you something about Cristina…"

UP NEXT: Bailey


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note:** Wow, I'm shocked at the awesome reception this little story has gotten! Thanks to all who've reviewed or alerted! Enjoy!

**Chapter Two – Bailey**

Bailey sat hunched over her charts behind the fifth floor nurses' station. The charts weren't patients' charts. No, on this day Bailey was working on the shift schedules for the residents. Trying to decide who would be on call and who got those precious days off was one of her more onerous duties as Seattle Grace's chief resident. It was the one that had driven Callie to distraction during _her_ brief stint as chief resident. Onerous or not, Bailey embraced it the same way she did everything else: with confidence and flair.

She was penciling in Izzie Stevens for Tuesday night when her pager went off. _911 down in the pit._ Judging from the flurry of pages that sounded just after hers, Hunt needed all hands on deck. Leaving her unfinished schedule behind, Bailey got up and ran for the stairs. She didn't have the time or patience to wait for an elevator.

The scene down in the pit was chaotic. Nurses and interns were running every which way; some shouting for lab results, others bringing x-rays. Bailey nearly ran into one of the interns – Ryan, she thought – as she tried to make her way to Trauma 1. An EMT wheeled in a loaded gurney with what looked like a small tent on it. He looked at Bailey questioningly.

"Where'd you want him?"

Before Bailey could so much as open her mouth, Dr. Hunt was at her side. "Put him in Trauma 2," the head of Trauma said brusquely. He looked down at Bailey. "Dr. Bailey."

Bailey followed Hunt into Trauma 2. As she hurriedly tied on one of the protective gowns, she noticed how utterly calm Hunt was. There was no running around the gurney trying to do twelve things at once. He quickly and quietly assessed their patient's injuries and moved on to the next thing. Well, that was to be expected given his background. The battlefield was not the place for panic. For once, she had no reason to complain to the Chief about an attending. She was oddly disappointed about that.

Hunt was removing the large blanket that covered the patient when Bailey asked, "What have we got?"

That, Bailey saw, was about the most inane thing she could have asked. It was quite obvious what they had. The patient, a man in his early thirties by the look of him, had a large piece of highway guardrail embedded in his torso. Miraculously, the guy was still breathing. Each breath, however, caused more and more blood to bubble out of his chest. Bailey grabbed a wad of sponges and joined Hunt in trying to staunch the bleeding.

"_What_ happened?" Bailey asked as she grabbed a clamp.

"A tractor trailer took the exit ramp too fast and fell across the highway. Twenty cars piled up behind it."

"My god. Does he have a chance?"

Hunt looked at her in surprise. "Of course he does," he said matter-of-factly. "Are you in, Dr. Bailey?"

A nurse hung a bag of blood and checked the monitor. "His O2 SATs are falling."

"We need to get him to the OR," Hunt muttered.

"We can't go in without an x-ray," Bailey argued. "We'd be operating blind."

"I realize that, Dr. Bailey," Owen replied, irritated. The door opened and Cristina came through it, pushing the portable x-ray machine. Hunt looked up at her and smiled ever-so-slightly. A little too formally, Hunt said, "Dr. Yang, would you please get a few x-rays of this man's chest? Then meet us in the OR?"

"Of course, Dr. Hunt," Cristina replied, equally formal.

Bailey, no stranger to head over heels in love attendings, immediately saw the overt formality for what it was. A cover. It looked like Hunt wasn't as perfect as Bailey thought. She closed her eyes for a second. _Dear lord, give me strength._

As Bailey followed Hunt to the elevator, she couldn't help but wonder, _what is wrong with these attendings?_ First Shepherd, then Burke. Hell, even Addison had an on call room encounter with Alex Karev. Sloane was _dating_ Lexie Grey. And unless her spider sense was _way_ off, Hunt was seeing Cristina. What was wrong with that girl? Didn't she learn anything from Burke? Bailey glanced up at Hunt. _Well,_ she supposed, _Cristina could do worse._ It didn't appear to be affecting their work. How long would that last? And how long until the Chief found out? Bailey certainly wasn't going to say anything. _It's only a matter of time…_

UP NEXT: George


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note:** Sorry about the delay everyone. The spoiler the other day threw me for a loop. But expect quite a few updates over the weekend! Reviews are love! Enjoy!

**Chapter Three – George**

George's eyes snapped open at the sound of his pager blaring. He fumbled for it at the waistband of his scrubs, managing to turn it off before waking anyone else. With a slight groan he rolled off the bed and stood up. The on call room was too dark for him to make out the reason for his rude awakening. As quietly as he could, George crossed the room and opened the door just enough for him to escape. The bright lights in the hall hurt his eyes; he nearly ran into a nurse.

George blinked several times until his eyes adjusted to the harsh fluorescents. Leaning against the on call room door, George checked his pager again. It was Izzie. She wanted him to meet her outside dermatology. _Why is she hanging out there again?_ he wondered. Although, George knew, Izzie had been acting strangely for a while. He thought about that day she was talking to herself outside the clinic. Something was wrong but whatever it was Izzie wasn't talking.

Determined to get to the bottom of Izzie's sudden love of derm, George made for the elevator. He no sooner hit the up button than his pager went off again. Wondering what Izzie's hurry was, his face fell when he saw it was the ER. _Damn._ Izzie would have to wait. George pushed the down button resignedly as Cristina appeared in his peripheral vision.

"You get paged too, huh?" she asked. George could practically _hear_ her smiling.

"Yeah," he replied as the elevator doors open and they entered. "You know what's going on? Izzie's looking for me."

Cristina looked at him askance. "Don't you know what day it is?"

George was pretty sure it was Tuesday but he suspected that wasn't what Cristina meant. Although in his defense, he'd been on call for the past thirty-nine hours; his brain was a little fuzzy.

"It's Dead Baby bike race day," Cristina replied with more enthusiasm than was appropriate. George groaned inwardly. She had that everyone-get-out-of-my-way-surgeon-coming-through look in her eye.

_That_ explained it. Cristina was looking for blood, guts and surgeries…really cool surgeries. There was no better day for that than Dead Baby bike race day. George sighed as the elevator doors opened. "You know, Cristina, there's more to life than cool surgeries."

Cristina walked off ahead of him, grinning. "Not today there isn't."

When they arrived at the ambulance bay, they found Meredith, Alex, Izzie, Bailey and a bunch of interns already there. As everyone passed around gowns, George looked at Izzie questioningly, but the blonde almost imperceptibly shook her head. George got the message: _not here._ Meredith was helping George with his gown when the Chief and Dr. Hunt arrived on the scene.

"Okay, people, you know the drill. I want good efficient work on these people today," the Chief proclaimed. "Dr. Hunt, if you need any more help down here just say the word."

Hunt accepted a spare gown from a smirking Cristina, replying, "Yes, sir. I'm sure we'll be fine."

The Chief didn't look convinced. "That goes for the rest of you too. I don't want any mistakes in my ER today."

"We got it covered, sir," Cristina assured him.

The Chief nodded and took his leave. George stole a glance at them as the Chief walked away. Dr. Hunt was tying the back of Cristina's gown with a smile on his face. That task accomplished, the two of them stood closely together talking quietly. It sounded like shop talk to George, but they were definitely in each other's personal space and looked quite comfortable there. George marveled at that; the only other person Cristina could handle being that close to her was Meredith.

The sight made George happy and sad at the same time. After all the Burke drama, Cristina certainly deserved a break and Hunt seemed like a stand up guy who wasn't intimidated by Cristina's independence or competitive streak. So he was happy for her. She'd likely force him to run labs for a month if she heard him say such as thing, but he was happy for her all the same. No, George was sad because he could feel the familial ties beginning to sever. The five of them – Meredith, Cristina, Izzie, Alex and George – were family. But as happens in all families, people leave home and develop separate lives. Meredith had Derek. Alex and Izzie were inseparable. Cristina had apparently moved on with Hunt. That left him. Alone. George didn't like it. Not one little bit. Then the ambulances started rolling in. _Time to get to work…_

UP NEXT: Izzie


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note:** I come bearing gifts! I hope everyone's still enjoying this as much as I am writing it!

**Chapter Four – Izzie**

"The usual, Joe," Izzie said as she settled onto her stool at the bar.

"Sure thing, Iz."

As Joe fetched her drink, Izzie settled her head in her hands. It had been a long, stressful day. She'd woken up that morning determined to tell _someone_ what was going on with her. She knew her friends were worried. Izzie smiled to herself. No, that wasn't exactly true. _George_ and _Alex_ were worried. Meredith and Cristina were both wrapped up in their respective male issues. Not that she could really blame them. Between Derek's recent darkness and Hunt's obvious issues – the man murdered pigs, for god's sake! – the BFFs had their hands full.

On the other hand, Izzie hadn't exactly been forthcoming. She was sure that if she sat everyone down and explained what was going on they'd rally around her. Hence her brilliant plan that morning. But then practically the entire surgical floor got paged down to the pit for the incoming Dead Baby bike race victims. All day she'd gone from one trauma to another, scarcely able to catch her breath. She'd managed to get in on a splenectomy, but then she was right back down in the pit. She had two patients with injuries so massive they bled out before she could stabilize them. George had tried to corner her a couple of times but she managed to dodge him. There had been too much death that day. She couldn't bear to see George – or worse, Alex – look at her like patients' families looked at their dead loved ones.

"Here ya go, Izzie," Joe said, placing her drink in front of her.

Izzie warily raised her head. "Thanks, Joe."

A frown marred Joe's face. "Now don't take this the wrong way, but you look like crap. Everything okay?"

Izzie wanted to shout that no, everything was _not_ okay. That she'd wasted weeks cheating on her boyfriend with a dead man. That because of her weakness for Denny there was a good chance she was going to die. Then an image of weeping loved ones flashed in her head. So instead of telling the truth, she replied, "Everything's fine, Joe. It's just been a long day."

Joe looked skeptical. "If you say so."

To reassure him, Izzie flashed her best bubbly, happy Izzie smile and took a sip of her drink. Appeased, Joe went back to work.

Izzie heard the door open behind her but didn't bother to turn and see who it was. She merely hoped that whoever it was would leave her alone. At first it looked like she'd get her wish: the new arrival was Cristina. Izzie watched out of the corner of her eye as Cristina settled in around the corner from her. Joe noticed Cristina's arrival and brought her a drink unprompted. Izzie looked around but saw no sign of Cristina's pig murdering boyfriend. Now that was odd. Lately, where one was the other was sure to follow. They were still in that not-liking-to-be-apart phase. Almost against her will, Izzie's curiosity got the better of her. She grabbed her drink and scooted off to the stool next to Cristina.

"So where's that pig stabbing boyfriend of yours?" she asked brightly.

Cristina gave her a derisive laugh. "You're never going to let that go, are you?"

"Probably not."

"At least I haven't castrated him, unlike some residents that shall remain nameless."

"Hey! I haven't castrated Alex! He's every bit as manly as your precious McArmy."

Cristina nearly spit out her drink. "Seriously? That's the best you can do?"

"What's wrong with that?"

"It's lame, that's what's wrong with it."

"Well, what _do_ you call him?" Izzie asked, genuinely curious. She hadn't known Cristina to call Burke by anything other than his last name.

"Owen."

"Oh." Izzie tried to cover her shock by continuing, "I'm surprised you and Meredith haven't come up with something along the lines of McBadass or something."

"We haven't reached the cute nicknames stage yet, Dr. Stevens," said Owen, chuckling.

Izzie froze. _Oh shit. _Cristina was trying not to laugh, but that was clearly a losing battle. Izzie pulled herself together long enough to stammer, "Dr. Hunt! I, um, didn't see you there. Well, I'll just…go, I guess. Bye, Cristina."

Then she fled. She could hear Owen and Cristina's peals of laughter as she ran out. Joe would just have to put her drink on her tab…

UP NEXT: Alex


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** Thanks to all who've commented/alerted this story! You're the best!

**Chapter Five – Alex**

Alex parked his car in the half full hospital lot. It was four in the morning and still dark. He was exhausted. Shepherd's spinal tumor removal had gone later than the attending had anticipated. Of course it hadn't helped that the guy was still a little gun shy in the OR. Frankly, Alex was surprised Shepherd had come back as quickly as he did. But, as Alex knew all too well, a loss of confidence was not something a surgeon just got over. He'd been much the same after that incident with George in the elevator. Not even his first successful solo surgery could get the remembered sense of helplessness out of his head. Plus Alex lived with the guy. He was willing to cut him a little slack.

Still, that extra hour in the OR had cost Alex some much needed sleep. Not that he was getting much to begin with. Between his long hours at the hospital and whatever was going on with Izzie, Alex found himself getting less and less sleep. He'd briefly considered sleeping at the hospital after Shepherd's surgery – he had rounds at five – but he was afraid that Izzie would suddenly decide to tell him what was going on the minute he wasn't there to tell. So he went home instead. He regretted that now. Alex didn't want to go inside just yet, so he rested his head on the steering wheel and closed his eyes. _Five minutes. I just need five minutes._

A half hour later Alex awoke abruptly to the sound of a slamming car door. His eyes tried to focus in the predawn light. What he saw nearly convinced him that he was still asleep. The slamming door belonged to Hunt's Jeep. The person who slammed said door was Cristina Yang.

_Damn._ Izzie had mentioned in passing that Hunt and Cristina had gone on a date, but he hadn't _really_ believed her. Hunt didn't strike him as the type to get caught up in Seattle Grace's romantic carousel. Clearly he's been wrong on that one. But…the guy was such a…badass. Alex had seen him save more than one life when it looked damn near impossible. Hunt was the one attending Alex had unflinching respect for. Curious now, Alex waited until Hunt's Jeep pulled away before climbing from his own car. He grabbed his bag and tore off after Cristina.

"Yang! Hey, wait up!"

Cristina turned, eyebrows raised. "What do you want, Evil Spawn?"

"Hey! Can't a guy say hello to a co-worker?"

"Guy, yes. You, no." With that, Cristina turned and pushed the front doors open.

Alex was right behind her. "Was that Hunt's Jeep I saw you climbing out of a minute ago? Are you guys an item now?"

Cristina spun so fast her hair hit Alex in the face. "Watch it, Karev, or you may find yourself on the wrong end of my scalpel," she said in a low voice.

Alex raised his hands in mock surrender. "Cool it, Xena. I didn't mean anything by it. Just trying to get the facts straight. It's a little out of the blue."

"Oh." Cristina backed away a couple of feet. She didn't look entirely convinced of his sincerity, but at least she was out of his face.

A few people in the lobby were staring. Alex shrugged. By unspoken agreement, they fell into step as they crossed the lobby to the elevator. Alex didn't try to make conversation. To be honest, Cristina's reaction surprised him. She must have it bad for the redhead if she was threatening to cut him to ribbons. Although, upon further reflection, his question _had_ come off a little more ass-ish than he'd intended. He liked Cristina. She was no-nonsense, hardcore and smart. She didn't take his shit. She gave as good as she got. He respected her, both as a surgeon and as a person. As little as a few months ago, he wouldn't have cared what she, or anyone else, thought of him. The idea that she probably considered him an ass bothered him more than he'd ever admit. He considered her…well, not a friend exactly…but someone whose respect he wanted to earn.

"Look, Cristina," Alex began as they entered the elevator, "I'm sorry if I came off as an even bigger ass than usual. It's really none of my business."

Cristina looked at him and blinked several times, clearly shocked. "Okay, who are you and what have you done with Alex?"

Alex laughed. "Fine, don't believe me," he said with a grin. "Just know that your secret's safe with me." The elevator dinged. "Catch you after rounds."

Alex stepped off the elevator, still smiling, leaving a dumbstruck Cristina in his wake…

UP NEXT: Lexie


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note:** Just a reminder, in this story no one knows about Izzie yet. Frankly, that topic is too depressing. We want happy Cristina and Owen! Thanks to all who've reviewed! Keep 'em coming! Enjoy!

**Chapter Six – Lexie**

Today was one of the few days Lexie hated her job. She hated doing grunt work. She hated being at the bottom of the totem pole. She hated that hardly anyone took her seriously. Right this second she hated waiting in line for lab results.

Lexie checked her watch again. Ugh. She'd been in this line for an hour. "_What_ is taking so long?" she muttered.

"The lab guy said it was a broken centrifuge," replied an oncology intern helpfully.

_Great._ Dr Yang (Lexie still had trouble thinking of her as Cristina despite her resident's close relationship with her half sister) was gonna be pissed. The resident was very specific: _Don't come back without those results, Three._ Lexie was not in the mood for another dressing down from Cristina Yang. So she waited.

And waited. Another hour passed. Lexie's eye lids started to droop – more out of boredom than tiredness. A person could only mentally recite the periodic table so many times after all.

"There you are. I've been looking all over for you, Little Grey."

Lexie smiled and opened her eyes. "I've been here for a while, Dr. Sloane, maybe you weren't looking hard enough."

Mark scowled. "Don't play cute with me, Lex. We were supposed to meet for lunch a half hour ago."

Lexie looked at her watch. Mark was right; she'd completely forgotten. "Sorry. Dr. Yang has me waiting for lab results."

Mark scanned the line quizzically. "How long have you been here?"

"A couple of hours?"

"Hours?! What, are they sending the samples to China?"

"No, there's a centrifuge broken."

"This place is falling apart," Mark muttered.

"Mark, it's okay. I'm sure it'll be fixed soon. I'll page you when I'm ready for lunch."

"Look, you want me to deal with Yang? Surely, she'd let you eat."

Lexie sighed. "Mark, I can't have you 'dealing' with my resident just because you're an attending who happens to be my boyfriend. I'm a big girl. I can handle Dr. Yang."

Mark looked relieved and annoyed at the same time. "Good. Cause honestly? Yang scares me a little."

Lexie laughed and gave Mark a playful shove. "Go. I'll see you soon."

As Mark left Lexie noticed the eyes of her line mates on her. She's noticed a lot more of that lately, ever since Mark had gotten in that fight with Derek. Suddenly she was Lexie Grey, Manwhore Tamer. Ugh. It was utterly ridiculous. She hadn't done anything particularly remarkable. For all his faults and insecurities, Mark Sloane had a good heart and that's all she needed to know.

"It's fixed!" one of the lab techs called.

Fifteen minutes later, Lexie had her lab results and headed for the stairwell. She got about two flights down when two voices filtered up to her. She froze when she realized who it was: Cristina Yang and Owen Hunt.

"Alex knows too," said Cristina.

"So?" Hunt replied.

Lexie heard Cristina laugh lightly. "Well gee, Owen, why don't we just get a neon sign and proclaim it to the whole hospital?"

Slowly, Lexie leaned over the railing to see. The angle was bad but she could just make out Drs. Hunt and Yang three floors below her.

"Ashamed of me, are you?" Hunt asked with mock hurt.

Cristina glared up at him. "Of course not. In fact, that neon sign might not be a bad idea. It would keep the nurses in line."

Hunt's eyebrows shot up. "The nurses? You lost me, Cristina."

"Oh please. You can't tell me you haven't seen how the nurses look at you."

Now Lexie couldn't be sure from where she stood, but it looked like Dr. Hunt was blushing. _Why do attractive men not notice the effect they have on the female population?_ she thought. _Well, unless that man is Mark Sloane anyway._

"Looking to mark your territory, Dr. Yang?"

"Something like that," Cristina replied with a smile. "Seriously, though..."

Just then Hunt's pager went off. He checked it and frowned. "It's the Chief. Duty calls." He brushed a quick kiss across Cristina's lips and left.

As soon as the attending was gone, Lexie started back down the stairs. That was certainly something she hadn't seen coming. Honestly, she was amazed those two had managed to stay out of the Seattle Grace rumor mill. It looked to her like they'd been together a while. Maybe Dr. Hunt could get Dr. Yang to lighten up? Yeah right, like _that_ would ever happen. Still, Lexie couldn't help but grin. They were so _cute._

Lexie was still grinning when she caught up with Dr. Yang a few flights down. "Dr. Yang! I've got those results you wanted!"

"Finally! What'd you do? Make the paper yourself, Lexipedia?" Dr. Yang asked as she snatched the paper out of Lexie's hand. She scanned the page and then looked back at Lexie. "This is…what are you grinning at, Grey?"

Lexie tried to rearrange her expression into something more serious. "Nothing." Lexie paused. "I'm supposed to meet Mark – I mean, Dr. Sloane – for lunch," she said in a rush.

Dr. Yang scowled. "Ew. I do _not_ want to hear about your sexcapades with McSteamy. Go."

Lexie was all too happy to oblige. Boy, did she have a story for Mark…

UP NEXT: Mark


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's note: **Hey, two updates in one day! Hooray! I hope everyone having as much fun reading this as I am writing it! Reviews feed the muse. Enjoy!

**Chapter Seven – Mark**

Mark's pager went off shrilly. _Finally,_ he thought. He unclipped it and read the message. **Done. – L.** _Thank god._ Mark put away the file he was working on and hightailed it to the cafeteria. When he got there it took him a grand total of five seconds to spot Lexie in the chow line chatting animatedly with one of her fellow interns. She spotted him and tried to wave him over but Mark shook his head. It was one thing for him to date an intern; it was quite another to _socialize_ with the other peons. He had to maintain some measure of self respect.

So instead of cutting in the line with Lexie, Mark slipped quietly in at the end, mindlessly grabbing things while keeping an eye on Lexie. He hoped she hadn't invited any of the other worker bees to eat with her, especially after making him wait so long to begin with. It was something she would do. Not to piss him off, of course. She was just nice. To everyone. Even those who really didn't deserve it. Like him.

He knew what people thought about him. He was a bad guy. He was the kind of guy you shielded your daughters from. He was the guy who betrayed his best friend – his brother – with his best friend's wife. Women like Lexie didn't fall in love with men like him. They just didn't. _So, _Mark thought as he paid for his lunch, _what did I do to deserve her?_

Mark squashed the disturbing thought as he weaved his way to the table where Lexie was waiting – thankfully alone. She had a mischievous smile playing on her lips as she poured some dressing on her salad.

"What's got you so happy?" Mark asked as he sat across from her.

"I'm having lunch with my very hot boyfriend. Isn't that reason enough to be happy?"

Mark raised an eyebrow. "Flattery will get you nowhere, Little Grey. Go on, spill."

"I really shouldn't," she said, biting off a forkful of salad.

Mark grabbed the pepper shaker and sprinkled some on his mashed potatoes. "Lexie, you and I both know you're terrible at keeping secrets. Are you gonna make me pull rank on you?"

Lexie put down her fork, grinning broadly. "Dr. Hunt is dating Dr. Yang."

Mark scoffed. "No way. Hunt and _Yang?_ I think someone's spent too much time cleaning Meredith's kitchen. The household fumes have gone to your head."

"Mark, this is serious. I saw them in the stairwell a few minutes ago."

"I don't believe it. How come I didn't know about this?"

"Well, I imagine they're trying to stay under the Chief's radar. They were actually pretty cute together."

Mark absently ate some of what passed for Salisbury steak. "Are you sure you're not just messing with me?"

"Yes, Mark, I'm sure. I may be an intern but I'm not blind or deaf. What's the big deal? I thought you liked Dr. Hunt."

"He's alright. For a meatballer."

"Are you sure that's how you should talk about the man who, you know, fixed you?"

Mark suddenly found the table top fascinating. He really didn't want to think about _that_ ever again. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can we talk about something else?"

They spent the rest of lunch talking about other, more mundane, hospital gossip. As soon as they finished, Mark went off in search of Derek. The news was simply too good to keep to himself. He found his erstwhile best friend at the third floor nurses' station, writing in a patient's chart.

"Derek! Have I got some new for you," Mark exclaimed as he leaned over the counter.

Derek continued to scribble. "Yes, Mark, what is it?"

Mark was mildly affronted. "That's all I get? I could get more reaction out of a monkey."

Derek laid down his pen in exasperation. "Some of us have better things to do than spread idle gossip. There's this thing called treating patients. Maybe you should try it sometime."

_Oops._ There were times that Mark forgot that Derek wasn't his usual mostly sunny self. While he was back at work, Derek still hadn't fully recovered from Jen's death. _Well, at least he didn't punch me this time._

"It's not important," Mark said quietly.

As he turned to go, Derek's face softened. "Sorry, Mark. It's been a rough day. I'm all ears for idle gossip."

Mark flashed his Cheshire cat grin. "Hunt's dating Yang."

Derek smiled. "_That's_ your earth shattering news?"

"What?" Then the proverbial light went on. "You knew already, didn't you?" Mark asked accusingly.

"Guilty."

"So why didn't I know? Am I a leper or something? Why am I always the last one in the loop?"

"Last one in the loop for what?" Hunt asked, coming around the corner.

Derek and Mark exchanged a look. _Busted._ Or maybe not. Mark blurted the first thing that came into his head. "Dart tournament at Joe's," he said, ignoring Derek's shocked expression. "Do you play, Dr. Hunt?"

"A little. I haven't in a long time though."

Catching on, Derek continued, "You should play with us. Attendings versus residents. You in?"

"Sure. Sounds like fun."

"Alright, so we'll see you at seven then," Derek said. "Mark, do you want to let Callie and the others know?"

"Sure." Mark turned and headed down the hall. He wasn't sure what had just happened. The only thing he did know was that he needed to find Callie. If anyone could appreciate what just happened it was her…

UP NEXT: Meredith


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's note:** The muse is back! Yay! I've got chapter nine written; it's being typed now. Enjoy!

**Chapter Eight – Meredith**

"Your incision is healing nicely, Mrs. Rodriguez. We should have you out of here in a day or so," Meredith pronounced, as she pulled the blanket up.

Her patient, or rather Owen's patient since he's the one who actually saved the woman's life, smiled. "Thank you, Dr. Grey." Mrs. Rodriguez glanced down, embarrassed. Meredith smiled and turned to go. "Dr. Grey?"

_Of course, what else is new?_ "Yes, Mrs. Rodriguez?"

The dark haired woman smiled conspiratorially. "Could you thank Dr. Hunt for me? I'd do it myself but I know he's busy. Do you mind?"

Meredith grinned. Mrs. Rodriguez had been flirting outrageously with Owen since she'd gotten to the ER four days ago. Not even a rebar through her torso could stop the fiery brunette from ogling the trauma surgeon. Owen had taken the attention good naturedly, remaining professional through out. Meredith found it highly amusing. Cristina mostly fumed. Maybe having Owen around meant that the patients would leave Derek alone, not that she'd admit that to Cristina. "Of course, Mrs. Rodriguez. In fact, I'll make sure he visits you before you're discharged."

"_Thank_ you, Dr. Grey."

Meredith left and proceeded to check on several other post-op patients. Task completed, she set off in search of Owen. The opportunity to embarrass Cristina's boyfriend was too good to pass up. Besides, she still didn't know the man that well. The odd nature of Cristina's relationship with him was mildly worrisome. It was all very hush-hush and Meredith couldn't fathom why. Cristina wasn't very forthcoming either, which was driving Meredith nuts.

Meredith found Owen in the office behind the fifth floor nurses' station. Through the window it appeared that he was researching something. Meredith knocked and opened the door. "Dr. Hunt?"

Owen looked up, slightly annoyed. "What is it, Dr. Grey?"

_A little testy,_ Meredith thought. "Um, I finished those post-ops you asked me to check on," she said cautiously.

Owen's face softened. "Thank you, Meredith. Sorry for snapping. I was preoccupied."

Meredith had a sneaking suspicion that whatever Owen's preoccupation was it had something to do with her person. "It's okay. Anything I can help with?"

Owen suddenly became fascinated with the floor and his cheeks turned slightly pink. _I knew it,_ Meredith thought. "Does it have to do with Cristina?" she asked gently.

Owen's blue eyes looked up at her with relief. "Yeah."

Meredith smiled. "What's the occasion?"

"None, really. I just wanted to do something nice for her."

Meredith's smile widened and for briefest second she was jealous of Cristina. God, no wonder half the staff was mooning over him. She suddenly understood Cristina's desire to keep Owen to herself. Meredith looked over Owen's shoulder at the computer screen.

"_Manuel of Perioperative Care in Adult Cardiac Surgery_." Meredith laughed. A book on cardiac surgery; Cristina would love it. "I'd say you're doing pretty well without my help."

Owen smiled, the first genuine smile Meredith had seen from him. "Thanks." He paused. "Cristina's unlike anyone I've ever known, you know?"

Meredith nodded. Yes, she did know. "Take good care of her, Owen."

Owen nodded, serious again. "I will."

Meredith smiled and turned to leave. As she opened the door, she said mischievously, "Mrs. Rodriguez made me promise to ask you to visit her before she got discharged."

Owen rolled his eyes. "Goodbye, Dr. Grey."

As Meredith headed down the hall, she heard Derek's voice from behind her. "Meredith!"

She stopped and turned as Derek skidded to a stop. "Derek, what's going on? You, of all people, running down the hall?"

"Tell me you didn't have plans tonight."

Meredith raised an eyebrow questioningly. "No, why?"

"Well, Mark and I sort of arranged a dart tournament at Joe's tonight. I need to you to bring the gang."

Meredith looked at him non-plussed. "_This_ is why you're running? You want me to drag my friends to Joe's?"

Derek looked sheepish. "Yes, please." Then he got that McDreamy look in his eye, the one she couldn't resist. "Come on. It'll be fun. Attendings versus residents. What'dya say?"

He knew her too well. Damn. He just had to appeal to her competitive streak. "Fine. But you're going down."

Derek smiled in victory. "We'll see about that, Dr. Grey. We'll see."

_Great. Now I just have to convince Cristina, Alex, Izzie and George…_

UP NEXT: Callie


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's note:** I come bearing fic. I hope everyone's till enjoying this!

**Chapter Nine – Callie**

"Are you _sure_ you don't want to play?" the hot peds surgeon with the butterfly scrub cap asked.

Callie took a pull of her beer before answering. She didn't want to appear too eager or desperate or anything. "No, I'm fine here. Besides, someone has to make sure these losers don't cheat," she replied, looking pointedly at Mark.

"Hey! I do not cheat!" Mark called from the next table. He'd already had a couple of drinks – fortunately he could hold his liquor, so it didn't show.

"Mark," Derek interrupted, "what about the time in freshman bio-chem?"

"That was different. I missed the lab the day before trying to get Stacey Harvey to go out with me. It's not my fault you're a lousy lab partner."

Everyone laughed. Callie was glad to see the two old friends speaking to each other again. She was also glad that Derek hadn't brought up Addison in the context of "cheating." Mark had been upset the whole time Derek was gone, not that he'd ever admit it. But Callie could tell. There was a loneliness there that neither she nor Lexie could fill. It was nice to see them reconnect.

"Okay, enough with the trip down memory lane. I'm trying to concentrate here," Alex grumbled as he poised to take his shot.

"Go get him, Alex!" Izzie – who thankfully was content to be a cheerleader – yelled from across the bar. Callie rolled her eyes. Despite her new quasi-lesbian status, the sight of perky, bubbly, blonde Izzie Stevens gave her the urge to hit something.

Callie refocused her attention on the game. She really didn't see how Alex could win. He needed one of those impossibly odd numbers. Plus his frustration was beginning to show. On his last turn at least one shot had gone wide. Then his opponent, Derek, used his turn to get to a nice even twenty. Alex took a deep breath and fired his darts in quick succession. Callie groaned. Twenty-six. Alex pulled the darts out in disgust and handed them to Cristina. Derek smiled smugly and launched one dart, got twenty thus ending the game. Derek retrieved his lone dart, winking at Meredith as he handed the darts off to Mark.

Cristina practically jumped off her stool to take her place in front of the board. She looked very serious. Callie smiled. Leave it to her uber-dedicated roommate to turn a game of darts into life or death. Mark noted the concentration of Cristina's face and tried to look unworried. But Mark gave himself away when he nervously started rotating the darts he held in his hand.

Callie knew that Mark had reason to worry. Cristina was _good._ As good as she was at practically everything else. Callie had played her a few times and had her ass soundly handed to her each time. It was over before Callie'd had a chance to finish her beer. This time was no different. Three swift rotations and it was over. Meredith, Izzie and Alex cheered as Cristina resumed her place at their table. George tried to give her a high five which Cristina studiously ignored.

"I can't believe I lost to _Yang!"_ Mark practically shouted. That was odd; Mark wasn't usually a sore loser. Was the alcohol starting to kick in?

"You wanna tone it down, Dr. Sloan! I don't think they heard you in Siberia!" Joe yelled from across the room.

"Sorry, Joe!" nearly everyone yelled back. _Yep,_ Callie thought, _definitely the alcohol._

"You didn't just loose, Sloan. You were crushed," Owen observed as he took his place in front of the board.

"Let's see you do better, Hunt," Mark replied indignantly.

Owen looked at Cristina, smiling. "I really hope I get that chance."

Cristina smiled back, eyes full of challenge. "You're gonna have to get through Mer first," she reminded him.

"Of course. Meredith," Owen said politely, stepping aside so Meredith could go first.

Callie couldn't help but laugh. She was happy to see Cristina like this. She'd been so…defeated when Burke left. It was good to see her smile again. It was so hard for a person like Cristina to open up to people. Callie was mildly surprised at how quickly Cristina had taken to Owen. Not that Callie could blame her in the slightest. The guy was gorgeous. Not in the pretty boy way of Mark or Derek, of course. They were handsome in a more classical sense: the strong jaw, high cheekbones, and awesome hair. No, Owen definitely had a more rugged look, as well as the bluest eyes Callie had ever seen. If she wasn't all about the women now, Cristina may have had a touch of competition.

Okay…maybe not. Because it was clear to anyone with eyes that Owen and Cristina only had eyes for each other. Callie was pretty sure World War III could come through Joe's bar and that would still be true. She sighed. _Why can't someone look at me like that?_ she wondered idly. Callie, focused on the game, never noticed Arizona staring at her while pretending to talk to a still ranting Mark.

"Damn it!" Meredith muttered, as Owen calmly lowered his score to zero. The elder Grey turned to Cristina. "You _have_ to beat Derek. He'll be impossible to live with if you don't."

"Come on, Meredith, it won't be that bad," Derek replied with a knowing smile.

"Kick his ass, Cristina," Alex chimed in.

"Are they always like this?" Arizona asked as she claimed the stool next to Callie.

Callie nearly jumped a foot in the air. "Arizona! You scared me!"

"Sorry. I just thought I'd keep you company."

"Mark boring you?"

"Sloan's nice and all, but he's not really who I was hoping to talk to tonight."

"Oh." _You want to talk to _me_? Yikes. _Callie's heart sped up in a moment of panic. _Think of something to say, Callie!_ "Um, you were good earlier. With Meredith."

Arizona laughed. "Not really. I stayed in it long enough not to get embarrassed. Darts aren't really my thing."

Callie was about to ask what Arizona's thing was when the residents' table started shouting all at once. Callie looked at them, confused. "What's wrong? What's going on?"

"Shepherd tried to cheat," Alex said loudly.

"I did not, Karev."

Callie got up and stood between the residents and the neurosurgeon. "Enough, all of you! Did anyone besides Karev see Derek cheat?"

Owen and Mark shook their heads. Cristina was nodding emphatically as were Alex and Izzie. George shook his head slowly but Meredith looked torn.

"Meredith?"

"Yes. No. Maybe. I was drinking my tequila; I couldn't tell."

Callie sighed. "Since no one has any definitive proof, Derek and Cristina will start over. Clean slate. That okay with everyone?"

Everyone nodded. Crisis averted. Callie resumed her seat, resolving to ignore the still-hot peds surgeon.

"Sorry," Arizona said quietly.

"It's okay, just help me keep an eye on them."

This game went slower than Cristina's bout with Mark. It went back and forth for a while. Derek was good, excellent. But, in the end, Cristina was better. Callie saw the tide turn. Derek's shots simply refused to go where he wanted them to. He was stuck. Cristina, on the other hand, just kept picking off points. When her score finally dwindled to zero, the second year resident, much to everyone's shock, held her hand out to Derek. "Well played, Dr. Shepherd."

"You too, Dr. Yang," Derek replied, mostly graciously.

So it was down to Owen and Cristina. If she hadn't known any better Callie would have sworn they'd _planned_ this outcome. But that was silly. No one had even known about this game until a few hours ago. It was very Clash of the Titans though. Callie watched as they sized each other up from their respective tables. At least that's what Callie assumed they were doing. Then Cristina smiled knowingly and nodded once in Owen's direction. Suddenly Callie felt dirty, like she'd seen something she wasn't supposed to. Something intimate.

_I wonder if Arizona has a place for me to crash,_ Callie wondered. _Cause I don't think home will be a quiet place tonight…_

UP NEXT: Cristina


End file.
